Punjab Police busts inter-state cybercrime racket operating out of Bengal
By : PTI
Update: 2024-08-22 05:03 GMT
Chandigarh: Punjab Police has busted an inter-state gang involved in cyber financial fraud with the arrest of three suspects from different districts of West Bengal, a senior police official said here on Wednesday. V Neeraja, Additional DGP, Cyber Crime Division, said those arrested have been identified as Shovon Saha, Abhishek Kumar Singh, and Parveen Kumar Rai.
The police teams have also recovered three mobile phones, one laptop, and Rs 30,900 from their possession, he said.
The Punjab Cyber Crime Division had received a complaint regarding an online fraud of Rs 49.60 lakh, wherein the accused allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to the accountant of a company by using a display picture of the firm's owner, who is a Mohali-based realtor and asked him to transfer the amount, Neeraja said in a statement.
As the owner was in a meeting when the message was sent, the employee could not verify the authenticity of the communication and transferred the money into the bank account shared by the fraudsters, she said.
Of the three arrested accused, two of them earlier worked with a prominent e-commerce platform and had rented out their bank accounts to cyber fraudsters for parking proceeds of crime and earned commissions in return, the ADGP said.
"Another important suspect identified as Md Delowar Gazi was traced but he suffered multiple injuries after a fall and was not in a position to travel," she said.
Gazi later joined the investigation and had revealed the names of other members of the gang, she added.
"An amount of Rs 5,22,700 has been put on lien from the third to ninth layer in 44 different bank accounts with the efforts of the Helpline '1930' team. Investigation of the case is in progress to unearth the network of cybercriminals in this case and more arrests are expected," Neeraja said.
Sharing details of the operation, Jashandeep Singh Gill, Superintendent of Police, Cybercrime Division, said the matter was reported at the cyber cell 12 hours after the incident.
After reporting the incident on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, a probe was launched by the Mohali cyber unit into the matter, Gill said.
He said information was obtained regarding the WhatsApp account, bank accounts, and mobile numbers used by the accused during the crime. Upon scrutiny, it was found that the amount in the first and second layers was transferred to bank account holders from West Bengal.
Thereafter, help was sought from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) for coordination with Joint Cybercrime Coordination Teams (JCCT) in West Bengal, and a police team led by Inspector Gaganpreet Singh and Inspector Deepak Bhatia left for Kolkata immediately, said the SP.
With the help of multiple Open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques and help from nodal officers of the bank, the whereabouts of the two accused were identified and they were nabbed, the officer said.
The SP said preliminary investigation has revealed that the fraudsters allegedly transferred the cheated amount to 150 bank accounts in 9 layers and a lien has been marked in 44 accounts.
A case was registered under relevant Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the IT Act at Police Station State Cyber Crime, Mohali.